Frank Rose Bailey Jr., a former West Tisbury resident, died in his sleep on April 22 in Folsom, Calif. He was 92.

Born in 1929 to Frank Sr. and Madeline Bailey of Essex Fells, N.J., he had been known affectionately as Bud since childhood. He trained as a geologist at Lafayette College and University of Texas before working in the petroleum sector in Texas and Louisiana, where he and his wife Mary Louise (Lou) raised their sons. Fond of travel, they first visited Tahiti in the early 1960s, later moved there, and started several businesses.

After summering on the Vineyard for many years, the couple moved into the West Tisbury home of Mary’s parents, Robert and Sarah White, where they established Takemmy Farm and grew vegetables and raised sheep, llamas, fowl, donkeys, goats, hogs and once a pair of ornery emus. The farm attracted many visitors to its farmstand, the animals and the elaborate play structure Bud built for his grandchildren. He had an abiding passion for carpentry, mechanics and engineering. After leaving Martha’s Vineyard, he and his wife moved to California where they spent most summers at a remote, off the grid cabin in the Sierra Nevadas that was constructed by Bud and his sons. Throughout their 70s, he and Lou carried packs up the last mile of trail.

Always active and entrepreneurial, he raised chickens well into his 80s and sold eggs from their home in Santa Rosa. In 2017, the neighborhood they settled in was engulfed by the Tubbs Wildfire. Fire razed almost all the surrounding homes but Bud and Lou’s home was spared.

Bud is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mary Louise (Lu) Bailey; his sister Suzanne Twyford of Washington D.C.; sons Timothy and his wife Kitty, Richard and his wife Mireille, longtime Island resident Kenneth Bailey and his wife Abigail, Frank 3rd and his wife Cynthia, and Peter and his wife Kristina; daughter Roti and her husband Tevaiti Pomare; 16 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

His memorial service will be private. His family encourages those who would like to memorialize Bud by sharing a fond memory to write in care of Luke Bailey, lwbailey@gmail.com, 1624 G Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.